Chapter Summaries

Xu Yunfan fought his way south through the devastation wrought by the Incense Fire Sect and finally reached the peaceful farmland beneath Accumulated Thunder Mountain. He arrived at the mountain’s foot after reporting the massacres to Wu Province Army scouts.

• Xu Yunfan killed the Cavalry Commander and his thirty Black Armor Elite soldiers, then rode south as the Incense Fire Sect altar master arrived and tracked his trail.
• Xu Yunfan killed a squad of Demon Subduing Heavenly Army cavalrymen who were carrying captured children, then asked a surviving boy for directions to Accumulated Thunder Mountain.
• Xu Yunfan traveled through devastated Wu Province, passing the dead and ruined remains of battles between the Wu Province Army and the Incense Fire Sect.
• Xu Yunfan showed his Heavenly Cicada Sect token to Wu Province Army scouts and described the Incense Fire Sect’s massacres, enraging their captain.
• Xu Yunfan replenished his food in Dayi City, rode another three hundred li, and arrived beneath Accumulated Thunder Mountain, where he saw orderly green rice fields.

Xu Yunfan arrived at the Heavenly Cicada Sect with a token from Liu Tianyun and was brought before its members to seek a master. After Lin Hanyi thwarted Chu Xuan’s attempt to poison him, Xu Yunfan was led to meet sect master Chen Tiangang.

• Xu Yunfan climbed Accumulated Thunder Mountain and showed Lin Hanyi the Blood Cicada Token Liu Tianyun had given him.
• Lin Hanyi took Xu Yunfan to meet Eldest Senior Brother Ning Wuque and warned him not to speak carelessly before the senior disciples.
• Chu Xuan secretly added medicinal powder to Xu Yunfan’s tea, but Lin Hanyi snatched the bowl and drank it instead.
• Ning Wuque sent Lin Hanyi to take Xu Yunfan to the sect master, while Chu Xuan said they should find a way to drive him away.
• Lin Hanyi led Xu Yunfan to meet Heavenly Cicada Sect master Chen Tiangang in the rear hall.

Xu Yunfan joined the Heavenly Cicada Sect and began learning the Heavenly Cicada Force under Chen Tiangang. After a month of cultivation, he reached its beginner stage and unified it with his Iron Bridge Town Suppression bone-training technique.

• Chen Tiangang examined Xu Yunfan, recognized him as a Third Tempering Martial Master, and accepted him as a disciple of the Heavenly Cicada Sect.
• Ning Wuque crushed a jade cup after learning that Chen Tiangang would teach Xu Yunfan, while Chu Xuan complained that the new disciple was receiving special treatment.
• Chen Tiangang demonstrated the Heavenly Cicada Force and taught Xu Yunfan to use his muscles and bones to store and transmit force.
• Xu Yunfan spent nearly a month cultivating the Heavenly Cicada Force, which gradually unified his Iron Bridge Town Suppression Bone Training technique.
• Xu Yunfan reached the beginner stage of the Heavenly Cicada Force, greatly increasing the speed and power of his bone-driven punches.

Xu Yunfan repelled Chu Xuan’s ambush and warned her and Ning Wuque to stay away from him. He continued his demanding training under Chen Tiangang, using the sect’s rare Thunder Snake Galls as he worked to master the Heavenly Cicada Force.

• Xu Yunfan endured Chu Xuan’s poisoned needle and dagger, then pinned her down and broke her poisoned nails with his hardened body.
• Ning Wuque intervened and explained that Chu Xuan was Chen Tiangang’s adopted daughter, so Xu Yunfan released her.
• Xu Yunfan threatened Chu Xuan with an oblique warning, then left for the Training Ground while Ning Wuque watched him with cold suspicion.
• Chu Xuan accused Xu Yunfan of having unknown motives and possibly competing for the Heavenly Cicada Armor, while Ning Wuque silently regarded her with an icy gaze.
• Xu Yunfan swallowed a Thunder Snake Gall and trained in the secret chamber as Chen Tiangang corrected his form and struck his back with a steel cane.

Xu Yunfan rapidly mastered Heavenly Cicada Force while Chen Tiangang arranged for Ning Wuque and other disciples to join the fight against the Incense Fire Sect. After Chen Tiangang hinted that Heavenly Silkworm Silk would be reserved for Xu Yunfan, Chu Xuan hurried to tell Ning Wuque.

• Xu Yunfan demonstrated Cicada Cry, prompting Chen Tiangang to marvel at how quickly he had unified Tendons, Bones, and Skin.
• Ning Wuque reported that the Wu Province Army was recruiting sect disciples to fight the Incense Fire Sect, and Chen Tiangang ordered him and other disciples to join the campaign.
• Chen Tiangang told Xu Yunfan that Heavenly Silkworm Silk would be used to help him cultivate Heavenly Cicada Armor once he broke through.
• Xu Yunfan realized Chu Xuan had been eavesdropping and suspected Chen Tiangang had deliberately used her to create a rift between her and Ning Wuque.
• Chu Xuan hurried across the Martial Arts Practice Field and grabbed Ning Wuque's sleeve to speak with him.

Chu Xuan tried to persuade Ning Wuque to claim the Heavenly Silkworm Silk instead of Xu Yunfan, but Ning defended his junior brother and she went to speak with her father. Three days later, Ning led more than two hundred Heavenly Cicada Sect disciples toward Jade Capital Province, while Xu Yunfan continued cultivating and improving his martial arts.

• Chu Xuan told Ning Wuque that Xu Yunfan was to receive the Heavenly Silkworm Silk and urged him to challenge the decision, but Ning told her to stop undermining unity.
• Chu Xuan tested Xu Yunfan with a Silver Needle as she passed him, and he deflected it into a blue brick; she then headed for the back mountain.
• Ning Wuque led Pi Zhian, Zhu Yi, and more than two hundred disciples away from the Heavenly Cicada Sect toward Accumulated Thunder Mountain, while Chen Tiangang explained the wealth of Jade Capital Province and the scale of its Ten Thousand Tiger Brave Black Armor army.
• Xu Yunfan kept to a demanding daily training routine, cultivating Heavenly Cicada Force and practicing the Cloak Hammer while avoiding Chu Xuan when Chen Tiangang was nearby.
• Xu Yunfan shattered a bluestone with Bone-Trembling Cicada-Cry Force and cracked the Martial Arts Practice Field with his Drumming Weng Gold Hammer, bringing him closer to consummate skin refinement.

Xu Yunfan cultivated Heavenly Cicada Force to minor mastery, while Chen Tiangang promised to teach him another technique after he advanced further. Meanwhile, the imperial army moved against Wu Province’s sects, and Chen Tiangang’s worsening wounds and urgency left Xu Yunfan wary.

• Xu Yunfan trained relentlessly, prompting Chen Tiangang to praise his diligence and criticize Chu Xuan’s lack of progress.
• Ning Wuque saw that the Ten Thousand Tiger Brave Black Armor had surrounded the sect experts and realized the emperor’s army intended to destroy Wu Province’s sects.
• Xu Yunfan reached minor mastery in Heavenly Cicada Force and discovered that it let him strike eighteen times in a single instant.
• Chen Tiangang congratulated Xu Yunfan and promised to let him study the Heavenly Cicada Armor technique once he reached major mastery.
• Chen Tiangang coughed up black blood and withdrew to treat his wound, while Xu Yunfan sensed his master’s hidden urgency.
• The army crushed the Incense Fire Sect’s rebellion, and reports from Ning Wuque’s disciples eased concern within the Heavenly Cicada Sect.

Xu Yunfan reached mastery in the Heavenly Cicada Force while the Black Armored Army advanced on Accumulated Thunder Mountain. The army broke through the mountain gate, and Ning Wuque confronted Chu Xuan with an imperial order to exterminate the sect.

• Xu Yunfan devoted himself to cultivation as the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art and Cloak Hammer neared perfection.
• Ning Wuque led the Heavenly Cicada Sect's twelve hundred heavy cavalry toward Accumulated Thunder Mountain after the Black Armored Army massacred the Azure Cloud Sect and he killed Pi Zhian and Zhu Yi.
• Xu Yunfan mastered the Heavenly Cicada Force, transforming his bones and demonstrating its power by shattering a granite wall with one punch.
• A wounded Mountain Guard Disciple warned the sect of the Black Armored Army's attack as the troops approached Flying Eagle Ravine.
• The Black Armored Heavy Cavalry broke through the mountain gate, and Ning Wuque announced that he had come by imperial decree to kill his master.

Ning Wuque led the Black Armored Army in a massacre of the Heavenly Cicada Sect, severing Chu Xuan’s arm and crushing her fingers as he revealed his hatred for her. Chen Tiangang arrived after most of the sect had fallen and swiftly overwhelmed Ning Wuque, leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• Ning Wuque and the Black Armored Army attacked the Heavenly Cicada Sect, killing disciples while Lin Hanyi fought to escape and Chu Xuan rallied survivors.
• Chu Xuan accused Ning Wuque of breaking his promise to protect the sect, and he cut off her arm and crushed the fingers of her left hand.
• Ning Wuque told Chu Xuan he had always found her behavior sickening and threatened to show her the sect’s end as the slaughter continued.
• Chen Tiangang arrived after the Black Armored Army had killed seventy percent of the sect’s disciples and demanded the Heavenly Cicada Armor and Chen Tiangang’s surrender in exchange for an Offering Seat.
• Chen Tiangang rejected Ning Wuque’s offer, killed the soldiers rushing him, and disarmed Ning Wuque with a single Iron Staff strike.

Chen Tiangang tore Ning Wuque’s True Blood from his chest and fled after General Cui attacked, while the Tiger Brave Black Armor slaughtered the Heavenly Cicada Sect. Xu Yunfan refused Chu Xuan’s plea to kill Ning Wuque and instead fought the soldiers who confronted him.

• Chen Tiangang revealed that he had raised Ning Wuque to maturity to obtain his True Blood, then ripped it from his chest and shaped it into a Blood Cicada.
• General Cui charged Chen Tiangang with a Precious Artifact Crescent Moon Blade, but Chen Tiangang evaded the strike and escaped into the buildings with the Blood Cicada.
• General Cui ordered the Tiger Brave Black Armor to kill everyone in the Heavenly Cicada Sect, leaving Ning Wuque and Chu Xuan gravely wounded among the dead.
• Chu Xuan begged Xu Yunfan to kill Ning Wuque, but Xu Yunfan stayed silent and did not strike either of the dying disciples.
• When Black Armored Army soldiers challenged him, Xu Yunfan attacked with his Weng Gold Hammer and slaughtered the squad.

After rescuing Lin Hanyi from the Black Armored Army, Xu Yunfan learned that Heavenly Cicada Armor was hidden in the Thunder Pagoda atop Accumulated Thunder Mountain. He left Lin Hanyi to escape and rushed up the mountain to retrieve the martial art, where an unseen enemy challenged him.

• Xu Yunfan found Chu Xuan and Ning Wuque dead and saw General Cui standing over the beheaded elder of the Heavenly Cicada Sect.
• Xu Yunfan hurried toward the back mountain but heard fighting in the pine forest and rushed to find Lin Hanyi nailed to an Ancient Cypress by three Armor Piercing Spears.
• Xu Yunfan killed the Black Armored Army soldiers attacking Lin Hanyi, pulled out the spears, and bandaged her wounds.
• Lin Hanyi revealed that she had hidden Heavenly Cicada Armor in the Thunder Pagoda atop the Summit of Accumulated Thunder Mountain and told Xu Yunfan she intended to leave.
• Lin Hanyi staggered into the forest while Xu Yunfan headed for the summit, where someone shouted at him for daring to go up the mountain.

Xu Yunfan fought his way to the Thunder Pagoda to retrieve Heavenly Cicada Armor, where he found Chen Tiangang alive and transformed after regrowing his leg. Chen Tiangang revealed his delusions about restoring the sect and attacked Xu Yunfan as he tried to leave.

• Xu Yunfan killed the Black Armored Army soldiers blocking his path and reached the summit of Accumulated Thunder Mountain.
• Xu Yunfan entered the Thunder Pagoda and found the Heavenly Cicada Armor manual, which he tucked into his clothes.
• Chen Tiangang descended with the captive Heavenly Cicada Sect elder, displaying his restored leg and insect-like changes.
• Chen Tiangang explained that he had used true blood and his accumulated foundation to repair his body, and said heavenly cicadas could catalyze the technique.
• Xu Yunfan said the Heavenly Cicada Sect had already been destroyed, while Chen Tiangang insisted he would rebuild it and become a ninth-realm Qi Refining Grandmaster.
• Xu Yunfan tried to leave, but Chen Tiangang called him a traitorous disciple and shattered the stone steps as he moved to attack.

Xu Yunfan fought Chen Tiangang in the Thunder Pagoda, escaped after General Cui Yan attacked, and watched Chen Tiangang kill Cui Yan and his guards. Chen Tiangang pursued Xu Yunfan to an abandoned ferry, where his body began reacting to Ning Wuque’s transplanted true blood, but he continued the chase and found Xu Yunfan in the mist.

• Xu Yunfan used his movement technique to withstand Chen Tiangang’s hammer attack, then narrowly evaded crossbow bolts fired into the pagoda.
• Chen Tiangang caught three arrows in his muscles as Xu Yunfan rolled behind a pillar and recognized Cui Yan outside.
• Cui Yan charged Chen Tiangang on horseback, but Chen Tiangang stopped the horse, broke Cui Yan’s neck, and blasted away his guards.
• Chen Tiangang pursued Xu Yunfan down the mountain, but a rejection reaction to Ning Wuque’s transplanted true blood forced him to stop briefly at an abandoned ferry.
• Xu Yunfan rested beside a locust tree, then saw Chen Tiangang emerge from the mist.

Xu Yunfan fought Chen Tiangang, who revealed that he had used Blood Cicada medicine to make Xu a catalyst for refining Ning Wuque’s True Blood. Xu unveiled the Gilded Mace and turned the fight around, leaving Chen Tiangang’s throat cracking under his third strike.

• Xu Yunfan’s Weng Gold Hammer failed to break Chen Tiangang’s defenses, and Chen snapped its shaft while revealing that he had mixed Blood Cicada medicine into Xu’s Qi and Blood Pills.
• Chen Tiangang explained that he planned to use Xu Yunfan’s True Blood as a catalyst to refine his own transplanted True Blood.
• Xu Yunfan opened his iron case and revealed the divine weapon, the Gilded Mace.
• Xu Yunfan used the Gilded Mace to burn Chen Tiangang’s skin, shatter his hand, and strike him with precise, forceful blows.
• Chen Tiangang pleaded for Xu Yunfan to wait, but Xu kept attacking until the third heartbeat and the Gilded Mace cracked Chen’s glass-like throat.

Xu Yunfan defeated Chen Tiangang with the Gilded Mace, then escaped an attack by Tiger Brave Black Armored soldiers and discovered the Golden Cicada Body Tempering Art. After examining the secret martial art, he realized that mastering Heavenly Cicada Force could let him cultivate it without its usual catalyst or lightning tempering.

• Xu Yunfan killed Chen Tiangang with the Gilded Mace, exhausting himself and greatly improving his martial arts proficiency.
• Xu Yunfan found an iron plate inscribed with the Golden Cicada Body Tempering Art among Chen Tiangang’s remains.
• Xu Yunfan broke the captain’s saber and killed seven Black Armored soldiers who attacked him, then escaped into the forest.
• Xu Yunfan traveled more than a hundred li to a mountain stream, where he rested and examined the iron plate.
• Xu Yunfan learned that the Secret Martial Art could toughen his body if he mastered Heavenly Cicada Force and made his bones vibrate at the required frequency.

Xu Yunfan traveled to Jieyang seeking a smith who could repair his broken heavy hammer and learned of Heavenly Crafting Cave in Cangzhou. While looking for a horse with exotic beast blood, he encountered Chi Suwen and a powerful Great Martial Master at the Chi Family inn.

• Xu Yunfan cultivated the Heavenly Cicada Body Tempering Art overnight and saw it listed as a beginner-level Secret Martial Art with two special effects.
• After traveling for several days to Jieyang, Xu Yunfan learned that the local blacksmith could not reforge his hammer and recommended Heavenly Crafting Cave near Hump Mountain.
• Xu Yunfan decided to settle in Cangzhou's provincial capital and searched Jieyang for a horse with exotic beast blood.
• A horse keeper told Xu Yunfan that the Chi Family caravan might have a Flood Dragon Horse and was leaving the next morning.
• At Chi Inquiry Inn, Xu Yunfan met Chi Suwen, whom he recognized from the Withered Wood Forest, and a gray-robed man who sensed his formidable blood and qi.
• Xu Yunfan recognized the gray-robed man as a Great Martial Master who had reached major completion in Tendons, Bones, and Skin.

Xu Yunfan rejected Chi Suwen’s offer to become a Chi Family retainer and rode to Emerald Wave City, where he settled into the Long Wind Tavern. He left the city’s Eight Sects as his intended path to advancement.

• Xu Yunfan met Chi Suwen and Uncle Chen while buying a horse, and Chi Suwen invited him to join the Chi Family as a retainer.
• Xu Yunfan asked whether outsiders could learn the Chi Family’s Swimming Dragon Startling Goose Step, then declined the offer when Chi Suwen said it was reserved for direct descendants.
• Chi Suwen watched Xu Yunfan ride away, while Uncle Chen warned that his wild nature made him dangerous and unlikely to reach the Marrow Cleansing Realm.
• Xu Yunfan galloped to Cangzhou’s provincial capital, Emerald Wave City, and was struck by how peaceful it seemed compared with war-torn Wu Province.
• Xu Yunfan found the Long Wind Tavern, left his horse in the care of a one-armed waiter, and enjoyed an extravagant meal of Exotic Beast Meat.

Xu Yunfan spent a month cultivating the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art and Cloak Hammer until he perfected it, greatly increasing his strength and making his body impervious to blades. After his late-night training disturbed his neighbors, a girl and her father confronted him over the damage and noise.

• Xu Yunfan devoted himself to the Crimson Flame Copper Body Art and Cloak Hammer, steadily raising its proficiency during a month of cultivation.
• Xu Yunfan completed the ninth Cloak Hammer form and entered the perfected realm, triggering a transformation in his blood, muscles, bones, and skin.
• Xu Yunfan tested his new strength and blade-resistant body, realizing his strength had at least doubled.
• A girl complained that Xu Yunfan's nighttime training had broken her pickle jar and scared away her hen.
• The girl's father apologized and offered Xu Yunfan Thousand Layer Pastries, but the girl bit his thumb and turned toward Xu Yunfan.

Xu Yunfan completed Skin Tempering and traveled to Heavenly Crafting Cave to have his broken weapon reforged. He arrived at the vast mechanism city, paid for a so-called VIP entrance, and showed a craftsman his broken Weng Gold Hammer.

• Xu Yunfan finished Skin Tempering, reached the Golden Skin State, and rested after his exhausting training.
• The next day, Xu Yunfan left the provincial city, briefly passing the girl Si Yang and her father as they prepared to depart.
• Xu Yunfan reached Heavenly Crafting Cave and was amazed by the steel-walled, mechanism-filled city built into Hump Mountain.
• Xu Yunfan paid silver to use a VIP passage, then discovered the regular entrance was open and bustling with visitors.
• A craftsman approached Xu Yunfan and asked what he wanted forged, and Xu Yunfan presented his broken Weng Gold Hammer.

Xu Yunfan met Fu Jin, a former Divine Weapon Ridge disciple who agreed to reforge his broken warhammer, and learned about the destruction of the Ridge. After Zhan Yan recognized Xu Yunfan’s exceptional mastery of their martial arts, Xu Yunfan joined the Heavenly Crafting Cave Casting Hall as his disciple.

• Fu Jin recognized Xu Yunfan’s Scarlet Refinement Copper Body and revealed that he had escaped Divine Weapon Ridge’s destruction before settling at Heavenly Crafting Cave.
• Xu Yunfan told Fu Jin that Divine Weapon Ridge had become Divine Weapon Valley, and Fu Jin offered to reforge his warhammer.
• Zhan Yan arrived with Fu Jin, recognized Xu Yunfan’s Golden Skin State and perfected hammer techniques, and learned that Xu Yunfan carried Lu Yi’s token.
• Zhan Yan invited Xu Yunfan to join the Casting Hall and teach him the Thousand Jun Mountain Shaking Hammer Technique, which could lead to the Marrow Cleansing Realm.
• Xu Yunfan kowtowed to Zhan Yan and became his disciple, while Fu Jin celebrated Divine Weapon Ridge’s inheritance having a successor.